The PeopleMover has always been among my favorite Disney attractions. It’s quiet, relaxing and there’s rarely a wait. It affords riders a panoramic view of Tomorrowland, as well as many other sections of the Magic Kingdom.

When it was first introduced at Disneyland in 1967, the WEDway PeopleMover — like the monorail — was hailed as a mass transportation idea of the future.

Although the PeopleMover’s ride system hasn’t really lived up to that early promise (aside from inside Disney parks, the only other working PeopleMover is located in the Houston International Airport), it’s hard not to enjoy its smooth, clockwork-like efficiency, especially after a long, hot day in the park.

Although the PeopleMover system may never live up to its initial "transportation system of the future" hype, it still has a bright future within Walt Disney World.

With a nod toward its past, as well as a look to that future, Disney recently renamed the Walt Disney World attraction.

The new Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover sign in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

It’s now called the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, which blends the old (WEDway PeopleMover) with the new (TTA). A bright new sign greets guests as they ride up the conveyor belt to the constantly moving loading platform area.

The original PeopleMover system in Disneyland borrowed heavily from Disney Legend Bob Gurr’s design for the Ford Magic Skyway pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.

The four-car ride vehicles were designed without engines. Instead, small electric motors were built into the track bed to propel the cars on its journey along a continuous track throughout Tomorrowland.

In Disneyland, the vehicles were self-contained, with a roof atop each one; the track was elevated about 15 feet off the ground, giving you a nice overview of the surrounding areas. In Walt Disney World, the TTA PeopleMover also is elevated and the system features roof-less vehicles traveling along a longer, completely covered track.

While the Disneyland version gave guests a great panoramic view of Tomorrowland, the WDW version does that and actually glides through several venues, including Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Mickey’s Star Traders.

Once inside Space Mountain, guests can hear the screams of riders "enjoying" their trip through the darkened roller coaster. It’s during this leg of the ride were you can also catch of glimpse of Walt Disney’s original version of Disney World — a scale model of his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow — now known as Epcot.

The PeopleMover system in Disneyland lasted less than 20 years, from 1967 to 1995. In 1998, an even more futuristic attraction called Rocket Rods supplanted the PeopleMovers, but for a variety of reasons, Rocket Rods came and went as quickly as a shooting star; after a myriad of technical problems, it was closed for good in 2001.

The Rocket Rods track at Disneyland. The ride supplanted the PeopleMover but only lasted from 1998-2001.